Rear Flange Bearings Toast

slmjim

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Which one today...?
in case you want to see a bad bearing... Honda OEM at 15k
(click for larger)
st bearing 007.jpg
That's an interesting pic. What I believe I see is wear concentrated on one side of the inner race (along the bottom of the race in the pic). This looks to me like there was a side load imposed on the bearing, which ball bearings were not designed to tolerate and will destroy them in short order. Does anyone have any insight on from where where any side load might be originating?

I'm researching the flange bearing issue for the upcoming rear tire replacement on my '09@ 16K mi. The flange bearings were OK at the last tire R&R. There have been no obvious signs of flange bearing issues, but from what I've been reading that's usually the case even when they're failing.


Good Ridin'
slmjim
 
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Mellow

Joe
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Several theories but pretty much the rule of thumb is to just check them at every tire change and if any notchy-ness is detected, replace... some also just replace every other tire change as it's not very difficult and it allows for some peace of mind. Some have gone 100k miles with no issues and some have had them within the first 20k...

That's an interesting pic. What I believe I see is wear concentrated on one side of the inner race (along the bottom of the race in the pic). This looks to me like there was a side load imposed on the bearing, which ball bearings were not designed to tolerate and will destroy them in short order. Does anyone have any insight on from where where any side load might be originating?

I'm researching the flange bearing issue for the upcoming rear tire replacement on my '09@ 16K mi. The flange bearings were OK at the last tire R&R. There have been no obvious signs of flange bearing issues, but from what I've been reading that's usually the case even when they're failing.


Good Ridin'
slmjim
 
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I copied this from an older post, I used this needle bearing and inner race by CBR to replace the 2 bearing stock Honda bearings. I now have over 50,000 miles on bearing and race with 0 wear noted at each drive flange lube. I do not clean this needle bearing with anything, only add a little lube each time with a clean acid brush. Please read below paragraph:

O.K. .. for the benefit of the thread I can now answer my own question thanks to a very prompt email reply from Charlie at CBR. Load carrying capacity of the (Japanese-IKO) roller bearing is twice that of the combined 6905's. The roller bearing and the inner race sell for $44.00 (Part# RNA 4905 UU and LRTZ 253018). The complete rear wheel bearing kit includes the roller bearing, 2 outer wheel bearings, dust seal and two o-rings for $89.00. Shipping to Ontario is $19.50 USPS priority flat rate. So I get the entire kit cheaper from across the continent internationally than for the 2 German bearings locally.

there link
http://www.cbrbearing.com
 
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Reginald

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I copied this from an older post, I used this needle bearing and inner race by CBR to replace the 2 bearing stock Honda bearings.
I have this bearing also. I have just over 28,000 on it. No problems. I use EP bearing grease to lube each rear tire change if it needs it. Heads up on this bearing, have a driver on hand that will fit the inner and outer race. The inner race slips out easily.
 

dduelin

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I had 96,000 miles on the original drive flange bearings and 62,000 now on the replacements. I'd just have a pair of replacements ready for when it's time and check them each time the rear wheel is off.
 
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What is with these flange bearings ??

I just pulled the rear wheel to install new brake pads and the flange bearing would barely roll..... Notchy to say the least.

These were new last fall when I replaced everything during a tire change.

I pressed the pair of bearings out with their carrier and they both turn smooth as silk.

Pressing one bearing back into the flange and it rolls smooth.

Pressing the second bearing partially in and it gets notchy again.

Pressing back out and smooth as silk again.

This is crazy... the bearings are being killed without even being on the axle.

Don
 
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OK..... I took my bearings and driven flange to a precision machine shop ( NASA certified ) and they measured
the bearings and flange. The bearings were spot-on, but the driven flange measured one thousandths of an inch
too small for pressing these bearings into the flange according to their "book of bearings" .

They told me that no way could these bearings survive being pressed into the too-small diameter driven flange.

I'm going to let them cut a thousandth from the driven flange and see if the bearings still get tight.

ps... the inside bearing carrier was correct for the inner race.

Don
 

Tom Mac 04a

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but the driven flange measured one thousandths of an inch too small

And that may be the problem....

I can say that after my first OEM bearing going bad at 15k or so ( pic above ) ...

I bought a cheap ten pack of bearings from ebay.
I used one set for a friend, one set for me and a third set is somewhere in the saddle bag ( still from a long trip )

The cheap bearing is still running fine at 40k miles on it.( friend has about 50k ) The only thing I did was repack the cheap bearing with some quality grease and install.

Who knows !?
 
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Well, the machine shop cut a thousandth of an inch out of the hub that holds the two 6905 bearings.
and the bearings press into the hub firmly, but without any "notchy" feeling.

Don
 
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Sixacross; said:
the bearings press into the hub firmly, but without any "notchy" feeling.
Don
This should solve the problem as there is no preload on the ball bearing when installed. My new ones that I installed felt notchy right from the get go also.
 
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18 months and 20,000 miles later, and the bearings are still smooth as silk during a winter cleanup and inspection.

I believe the machinist was right. Taking off one thousandths from the inside of the hub was the right answer for my bike.
 
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